


Each Other's Anchors (We Move In Nautical Miles)

by redbrunja



Category: Lizzie Bennet Diaries
Genre: Drug Use, F/M, Substance Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-04
Updated: 2013-01-04
Packaged: 2017-11-23 15:02:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/623463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redbrunja/pseuds/redbrunja
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy is more than happy to take Lizzie wherever she needs to go.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Each Other's Anchors (We Move In Nautical Miles)

At 4:27 a.m., January 26th, 2013, William Darcy heard Lizzie charge down the stairs, her footsteps uncharacteristically heavy. It had been over two weeks since his trip to Japan had been cut short, and he'd discovered that the favorite student of Dr. Gardiner who was house-sitting was Lizzie Bennet (who had simultaneously discovered that the house she'd been house-sitting belonged to William and Georgiana Darcy) and his first (self-centered and over-dramatic) thought was that the timing was off: Lizzie had been going to flee into the night to escape his presence, she would have already done so.  
  
  
He exited the downstairs lounge to find Lizzie shoving her laptop and cell phone charger into a flowered tote and leaving a distraught message for her best friend.  
  
"Charlotte, Lydia's in the hospital, and I really, _really,_ need a ride. Call me as soon as possible, " Lizzie visibly changed her mind, set her bag down and pulled her computer free, "never mind, I'll just get a taxi or–"  
  
"I'll drive you," Darcy said.  
  
Lizzie twisted to face him and her laptop almost fell off the side table she'd been resting it on. She fumbled catching it, and shoved it to a more secure position. Her eyes were red but dry.  
  
"I'd be happy to drive you," he said again, and Lizzie chewed her bottom lip. He could see the calculation - her manners and her dislike of him warring with her desire to rush to her sister's side.  
  
She nodded.  
  
"I'll bring the car around," Darcy said, stepping past her to wiggle is feet into a pair of shoes.  
  
Darcy drove twenty miles over the speed limit the entire trip.  
  
Thankfully, Georgiana had not required an emergency trip to the hospital. Gigi had willingly come to him for help, with shaking hands and pupils so dilated that they seemed black. Darcy remembered the helpless, panicked feeling that had settled into his chest when he realized how much trouble Gigi was in; Darcy could imagine how scared Lizzie was right now.  
  
He spent forty minutes attempting to think up something comforting to say and then realized that he was wearing a t-shirt, plaid pajama pants, and hadn't brought a jacket, his mind snagging on the innocuous, nonessential facts of the situation. He glanced over at Lizzie, who was staring blindly out at the road, biting a thumbnail.  
  
"My cousin Mary was staying at my parents," Lizzie said, not looking at him, her voice too level. "She and Lydia went out. Mary was the one who called 911. Jane called me."  
  
He wanted to take her hand, to comfort her. Darcy curled his fingers tighter around the steering wheel.  
  
He opened his mouth, about to say something, when he saw the burst of light from a police car's flashers in his rearview mirror.  
  
He pulled to the side, leaned past Lizzie to retrieve his insurance card from the glove box.  
  
"Seriously?" Lizzie said, glaring over her shoulder, watching the state trooper approach.  
  
"License and registration, please," the trooper said.  
  
"Of course," Darcy said, handing over the requested information.  
  
"My _sister_ is in the hospital," Lizzie said over him. "I _get_ that your job is make sure that the rules of the road are obeyed, but _seriously?_ This is an _emergency_ and we were _not_ going that fast and Darcy is an _excellent_ driver. _Excellent."_  
  
There was a long beat while the trooper processed this, and then he asked, "Have you been drinking, ma'am?"  
  
"No," Lizzie said emphatically, twisting the shoulder strap of her seat belt and looking like she wanted to strangle the trooper with it.  
  
"Hmm," said the trooper, and ambled back to his vehicle.  
  
Predictably, Darcy received a ticket, but he thought the fine was more than worth it to hear Lizzie's passionate defense of his driving skills and the subsequent rant about police officers completely failing to understand the nuances of a situation.  
  
(Darcy didn't obey the speed limit for the reminder of the drive.)  
  
Lizzie began to text Jane as the got closer to the hospital and when Darcy pulled up, he wasn't surprised to see Jane waiting on the curb. Lizzie rushed out of the car and the two sisters hugged each other, rocking back and forth slightly.  
  
Darcy turned off the car and got Lizzie's bag out of the back seat, standing awkwardly while Jane caught Lizzie up.  
  
"Lydia's going to be okay, they said that she's going to be okay," Jane kept repeating, voice froggy. Lizzie made a little relieved sound against Jane's shoulder and then stepped back.  
  
"Dad took Mom home," Jane continued. "She was so upset, the ER doctor ended up giving her a sedative–"  
  
"Great, more drugs for Lydia to steal, that's _just_ what we need," Lizzie snapped.  
  
"Lizzie!" Jane said, emphatic, and then her face seemed to crumple a little bit. Lizzie rubbed Jane's arms comfortingly.  
  
Darcy felt superfluous. He wondered if setting Lizzie's bag down and driving off would be more or less rude than overhearing this conversation, witnessing the raw look on Jane's face, regardless of the fact that he wasn't deliberately eavesdropping.  
  
Jane looked over Lizzie's shoulder, focused on him.  
  
"Hi," she said, looking a little confused.  
  
"Darcy gave me a ride," Lizzie explained.  
  
"Yes," he acknowledged, and Darcy took advantage of the segue to hand Lizzie her flowered tote.  
  
Jane still looked confused. Surely Lizzie had told her sister for whom she was house sitting?  
  
"Thanks," Jane said, smiling sweetly.  
  
"Yeah," Lizzie, said, nodding. "I really– it was– I'm really sorry about– you know, everything." She tripped over her words.  
  
"It was nothing," Darcy fiddled with his keys. "I hope your sister recovers quickly."  
  
He nodded, and went to circle around to the driver's side of his car.  
  
Lizzie followed him. "Darcy, wait," she said and when he turned, she hugged him. She had to rise up on her tip-toes to get her arms around his neck. He froze for a minute, and then put a hand carefully at the small of her back.  
  
"Thank you," she said, drawing back. "Really. Thank you."  
  
"I'm happy to help you in any way I can," Darcy said, trying to sound like a dependable, normal person and hearing how stiff and robotic his voice sounded instead.  
  
Lizzie smiled crookedly at him before she darted back at his sister. Darcy watched them link hands, walk into the brightly lit hospital together.


End file.
